Royal Wedding Watch: Odds It’s Alexander McQueen for Kate’s Gown?

An Alexander McQueen design. Photograph from Fairchild Archive.The royal wedding of Prince William and the future Princess Catherine is just 52 days away. From the daily barrage of tabloid folly, VF.com’s Royal Watcher in London plucks the best for your wedding crib notes.

• Can Kate Middleton fix Britain’s economy? According to The Independent, the not-so creatively named "Kate Middleton effect" is fast-tracking England to post-recession. Richard Lowe, the head of retail and wholesale at Barclays Corporate, explains that “Kate Middleton is expected to do for many British high street names what Michelle Obama did for J.Crew in the U.S. Shoppers really get inspired by these big glossy images of her in styles which are very accessible.” The Reiss dress that Kate wore for her Mario Testino engagement shots was re-released to meet demand, but it still went out of stock before you could shriek, “I heart Prince William!” • Kate is probably racking her brain to come up with another new way of saying “I AM NOT GOING TO ANNOUNCE WHICH DESIGNER I AM WEARING UNTIL APRIL 29!” Yes, it’s time for her to yet again reinvent the wheel, as rumor mills were spinning frantically all weekend trying to peg the new chosen one. This time the hype is for Sarah Burton, the current creative director for Alexander McQueen. Burton did design for Sara Buys when she wed the Duchess of Cornwall’s son, Tom Parker Bowles, so it’s certainly not out of the question.

• “The princess experience” sounds like it should be the ironic name of a Brooklyn indie-rock band, but it actually relates to a new offering at Swissôtel the Howard, London. From March 1 to June 1, with the help of Daddy’s credit card—2,904 pounds worth of help, to be exact—girls ages three to eight arriving for the one-night package will be greeted with a bottle of Babycham (non-alcoholic champagne) before being dressed in a blush-colored princess dress, glitter shoes, and fur cape. And according to the official press release (which, I should add, was handed to me on behalf of the hotel by a young girl in full princess getup), “[i]n order to avoid any boredom, her ‘Highness at Swissôtel The Howard, London’ will be spoilt with other amenities, such as a ‘do it your own’ princess mirror and princess doll set, a Princess book, a Cinderella DVD, a Princess sticker book and a princess secret diary to write about the royal secrets. The highlight is a trip on a horse-drawn carriage to Westminster Abbey to see where the ‘real’ princess is getting married.” Math has never been my strong suit, so I’m still trying to work out just on how many levels this is wrong.

• If you thought the first commemorative coin was (a) sufficient and/or (b) adequately creepy, just wait. A second coin is being produced. The 5-pound coin, which features a rather Shrek-like profile illustration of the couple, is available for a steep 9.99 pounds from the Royal Mint’s Web site. Judging from those figures, it looks like I’m not the only one struggling with arithmetic.

Bridget ArsenaultBridget Arsenault is the London correspondent at vanityfair.com and has worked in Vanity Fair’s London office since 2009, before which she completed her Master’s at Oxford University.